Making note cards from scraps

It was all about reuniting. Two fifteen year olds, two former college roomates, two Solomon moms. We had a fun couple of days together. The funnest thing for me was having all of us gather around my dining room table and make cards out of scraps.
I love the surprise element of this craft- not really knowing what will it will turn out to be. I love how each of us had our own unique style, even thought we picked through the same scrap bucket.

What a creative, lovely mess! 

It's all about the gathering and layering of papers that you like.

Visual Journal- April 2013

Theme:

Sit with God as you might with the ocean. 

You bring nothing to the ocean, yet it changes you."

Sean Caulfield, from The Experience of Praying

My favourite ocean view- what I saw from my living room window growing up. It's not exotic to me, it was just something ever present, always mesmerizing, accompanied by a constant sound of waves coming in to shore.  

Visual Journal: March 2013

Theme:

Our yearning for God’s encircling presence is expressed uniquely in the traditional Lorica prayers of protection. The most famous of these prayers, St. Patrick’s Breastplate, invokes all of God’s gifts to accompany us on our journey. 

Christ beside me, Christ before me

Christ behind me, Christ within me

Christ beneath me, Christ above me

Christ within me. 

In this invocation, we are wrapping ourselves with the garment of Christ’s presence. This is the mystery of the incarnation in our own lives.

Here you can see that it's actually three pages. I tore the pages to be different sizes, then edged them with a strip of collaged bits. The edging ties the three pages together, and so does the text washi tape I used on the bottom of the pages.

I can't remember where I found this prayer, but it's been a good one for me recently. 

Page 2- 

detail pg 2: Christ behind me. I first printed a family picture from our wedding and chose a grey scale so it's a little faded. Then I put the same paper through the printer again, to print our wedding hymn on top. O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come. Our shelter from the stormy blast and our eternal home. 

detail pg 2: This is a card that I picked up from a Home made craft fair. My friend collects bits of paper and makes them into cards. When I made this page, we were just preparing seeds indoors, preparing for our garden. I like the way it fits with this theme. 

detail, pg 2: This is the inside of the GROW card. I added a photo I took during my Masters' year of study. I was focussing on writing and I put the pencils in beside the tender green shoots, symbolizing how our writing is growing, how it takes a long time to nourish the ground and prepare for growth. Sometimes you don't see the flowers and harvest, but the work is still being done. There are steps to take before you see the expected results. Don't be discouraged in the process. Wait and trust that the seeds will flourish in their time.
There are so many places I can apply this truth.

pg 3: Christ beneath me, Christ above me, Christ within me. 

detail pg 3: I was struggling with images for Christ beneath me. What does it mean that Christ is beneath me? I was drawn to the idea that when a child needs the comfort of a parent, they are willing to be carried, they surrender their strong will and find welcome in the arms. In this sense, they are carried. They still have a will and a voice and maybe even a feisty spirit, but they are willing to relax and trust the other, the one who carries them, the one who is beneath them. The larger image is from a Wycliffe calendar and the small images are all babies from New Day. New Day Foster Home's core mission is to provide life-saving surgeries and a loving home to orphans with special needs from around China.

Christ above me- what does this mean? I don't think it means the he is high and lofty, up in the sky. Sometimes we think that.  I believe Christ is the ultimate reason why we give our time and gifts to serve others. Christ above me means I keep my eyes open to the world around me. It's because of his presence within me that I am able to give anything of worth. Not high and lofty.
So I can serve because he first served me. I serve because it's him that I am serving. And by serving, I know Christ is dwelling within me.

Christ beside me, Christ before me

Christ behind me, Christ within me

Christ beneath me, Christ above me

Christ within me. 

Scrap Paper Cards

WOW, it's been a long time since I have blogged...here it goes.

I have a lot of little itty bits of scrap paper in my craft room. They collect in a box. One box for large scraps, one for small bits. So today I took out the small bits and decided to put them to good use. I wanted to turn them into cards.

First, I picked a variety of scraps, and looked for patterns that looked good together.

Then I cut them to sizes that would fit on the cards I had.

I layered them onto the cards and glued them down using a glue stick.

Next, I did what I like to call layering and embellishing. I used a medium circle punch for the circles.

Some of the papers had texture in them.

I added further texture using buttons and glitter dots. The buttons were glued down with liquid glue. Glitter dots are like a glue already, so you just dot them around where they fit.

Some of the patterns are enhanced with glitter dots.

Finally, I added ribbon for stems. I also used small dots of white liquid glue to adhere the ribbon.

Fear Not

I worked on this page in my faith art journal in August and September. When my faith journalling group got together, we started out with reading some different lines of scripture. Then we did a 12 minute free write, where we wrote whatever was on your mind. Then we tried to make a visual page of what came to mind. We also wrote a found poem, choosing lines and phrases from our 12 minute write and put them into a poetic form. 

Add caption

pg 1, with a pocket for the writing I did

pg 2, Dominican homes


 Isaiah 43:1

Fear not, for I have redeemed you;

I have summoned you by name;

You are mine.

Twelve minutes of writing. Three minutes of percolating over a verse. FEAR NOT...why is it that I always find fear when I face new things? Unknown things? Things that I chose for myself and put into motion and things that I long for and am glad for, but still, there is FEAR when I think of starting something new.

This verse talks about being redeemed and that is the reason not to fear. It talks about being SUMMONED by name and that is the reason not to fear...God says “You are mine, Joan.” That is the reason not to fear. It doesn’t talk about absence of things to be afraid of. It just says “You are mine. I have called you by name. I have redeemed you. Fear not.”.

Names- it was in Nigua that people called me by my nickname- for that is how they knew me. The look on their face when they saw me coming down the path to their house with Rafaelito...saying, “Yo si se quien es que me viene a visitar...es PINCHIE!” Normally I cringe at being called that name of my childhood, but on that day it was special. It was tender and endearing and reminded me of this strong connection I have with this person, this place.

Why is it that I get so emotional when I start telling the stories of our trip? How will I share in front of a larger crowd? It is the feeling of being so full, full of joy, full of memories, full of remembrances that spill out of my eyes and trembles my voice. I don’t want to hide that feeling, but I want to be able to share it in a way that can be understood. Do tears help us to be understood by others? Do fears and tears unite us in deeper ways than language?

I loved the homes of the DR- the vibrant colours, the clean floors made of dirt, the wooden windows, open to the outside, the front room for visiting, with lace curtains hanging. I am trying to remember the visuals of my photos...did I take too many? Should I experience more of the moment instead of hiding behind the lens all the time, trying to capture moments to look at later instead of really seeing it in the now? Pink and green walls, blue and white walls, brown no paint walls. Always motorcycles buzzing by.

FEAR NOT

 face new things

I long for

the reason not to fear.

You are mine.

Tender and endearing.

Strong connection:

full of joy,

full of remembrances

that spill out of my eyes and tremble my voice.

Do fears and tears unite us in deeper ways than language?

Vibrant colours of home

experience more of the moment

see it in the now

Always motorcycles buzzing by.